The AJP Podcast

As the countdown nears for the graduation of the UKs first cohort of students to come out as independent pharmacy prescribers, a leader of the profession joins our podcast to talk about the ‘paradigm shift’ this represents to scope of practice.

Minesh Parbat is currently Chief Pharmacist of an integrated care system in the English midwest. He is also a independent prescribing pharmacist.

He talks to our podcast host, Carlene McMaugh, about the latest developments in UK pharmacy (at 4:30), including the development of independent prescribing and related legislative changes that allowed pharmacists to undergo further training to take on broader scope of practice roles.

Parbat also talks about the related growth of pharmacists working in broader healthcare teams and in additional locations of practice.

Other items under discussion include the growth of digital health and telehealth, and how we build competencies and confidence of the pharmacy workforce in these areas. 

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

In the latest edition of the AJP podcast, our host, Carlene McMaugh, speaks to FIP president Paul Sinclair about the 

The topics covered include:

AJP editor Chris Brooker recently spoke to Paul Sinclair. Go here to see the article 

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Brooker talks to Carlene McMaugh about the top stories from last year, including “the unicorn of 2023” – double dispensing – and the way it came as a shock to the profession.

“Most people were incredibly concerned about the impact of 60-day dispensing,” he says, saying that as a result, feedback to the AJP included “a lot more concern than we get most years. Probably even getting to the stage of fear. Fear over the future, fear over job security, fear over financial security and I think, fear over the future of pharmacy in general”.

Also coming to the fore last year were issues of funding, particularly that affecting the livelihood of consultant pharmacists working in aged care.

Brooker says our top two stories both covered specific medicines, and chats about his predictions for 2024, including the importance of the 8CPA and potential consequences of the Chemist Warehouse-Sigma merger.

And he also has some sentiments to share for members of the profession – and an invitation to tell us your stories.

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

“I really think that when we look back in history, 2023 is a year that I would describe as a ‘monumental year’,” says Dr Fei Sim, national president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.

“There have been a lot of conversations about funding, about 60-day dispensing, about anxiety levels for pharmacists – but why I say it’s monumental is because it’s actually more complex than that.

“If we look back, 2023 was really a year where we saw, and we are about to continue to see, fundamental change in the role, in the scope of pharmacists, and the expectations of pharmacists.”

She lists the issues that arose in 2023, from new professional practice standards to changes to opioid dependence therapy, to change for pharmacists working on-site in residential aged care.

“It was probably the only time in the history of pharmacy where we saw significant policy and health system changes, or policy proposals, that affect every single component of our profession.”

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

In the latest AJP podcast, Steve Morris, CEO of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia talks to our host, Carlene McMaugh, about quality use of medicines: what it means, why its misunderstood, and what role pharmacists can, and should, play.

Among the topics discussed are:

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Senior professional officer at PDL Gary West says that pharmacists have shown significant interest over 2023 in deferring and declining supply, which he says is partly related to the 60-day dispensing issue.

“We’re experiencing a number of calls from employee pharmacists particularly who are finding it very challenging to decide what their obligations and responsibilities were in regards to assessing a 60 day prescription for its validity,” he says.

There’s also been high interest in incident reporting and professional boundaries. “I think sometimes pharmacists don’t think about that process of documenting incidents or other interactions that could go pear-shaped,” he says.

West encouraged pharmacists to brush up on their obligations in regards to professional boundaries.

“Particularly this time of year, even though it’s important all year round we are seeing an increase, a little bit, in regards to professional boundary complaints, where allegations are being made against pharmacists breaching those expectations – and it’s not just sexual harassment, though that is certainly one of the topics, but things like bullying, discrimination, other activities that are considered to be a breach of boundaries.”

Pharmacists also had to ask questions about the changes to opioid replacement therapy – where the implementation was “a nightmare,” West said, despite the importance of the changes – as well as a range of hiccups with e-prescribing.

PDL is currently helping its members with clarification on Covid vaccines – particularly regarding conflicting advice and the latest jab to hit community pharmacies – and 2023 has also seen growth in inquiries about dispensing medicinal cannabis.

“It’s area where there’s lots of activity,” says West. “The volumes are increasingly significantly, there’s a lot of challenges associated with things like online prescribers, telehealth prescribers, vertical integration between prescribers, suppliers and dispensers, in some cases, and there’s obviously a lot of regulation around it.”

He also has some advice for pharmacists in 2024 and into the future…and how pharmacists can be prepared for the changes, risks and opportunities they are likely to face.

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Earlier this year, SHPA launched the new Australian and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy (ANZCAP), a body designed to offer recognition to the myriad of specialist areas of practice within pharmacy. 

Tom Simpson, SHPA national president, talks to our podcast host Carlene McMaugh about the motives behind the college, which he says has already attracted over 500 applications, and where he sees the initiative taking the profession.

Among the topics discussed are: 

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

SHPA national president Tom Simpson joins our podcast to discuss what he describes as “one of the loudest, most interesting years in pharmacy for a long time”.

Covering some of the key developments – the launch of ANZCAP, the growth of collaborative prescribing, residency changes, and changes to, and further discussions around, advancing the scope of practice – 2023 has been a very interesting time to be in pharmacy, Simpson says. 

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to Topp about the impacts the government’s 60-day dispensing policy is having on community pharmacies, and what the profession needs from the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA). 

Among the topics covered are the high rate of “inaccurate, incomplete or incorrect” 60-day prescriptions pharmacists are being presented (2 minutes: 12), and the need for dispensing to be appropriately funded through the 8CPA (15:27).  

(3:33) Pharmacies are seeing “an enormous amount of waste” created 60-day scripts being issued to patients commencing a new treatment.  

(4:00) Government advertising 60-day dispensing as two-for-one, has resulted in pharmacy staff being confronted by angry patients whose medications are not eligible.  

(7:45) Pharmacists considering shedding staff need to consult widely before making redundancies. 

(9:01) Introducing or increasing fees for services should not be a big step for pharmacy owners, because “doing stuff for free in the hope that you’re going to get more prescriptions is not really a great business model for pharmacy”. 

(14:05) Time is running out for thinking about how pharmacists can deal with the impacts of 60-day dispensing because they are starting to hit stores now. 

(14:52) 8CPA is unlikely to deliver a massive increase in PBS funding for community pharmacies, but adequately remunerating pharmacies for dispensing will be critical to supporting other services. 

(17:47) The new national opioid dependence treatment program needs an injection of cash to support pharmacies to deliver the service to vulnerable patients.  

(19:15) Same job, same pay – $19 for administering National Immunisation Program vaccines fails to remunerate pharmacists for assessing patients’ suitability for jabs. 

(21:41) Medicine shortages are not being helped by the introduction of 60-day dispensing.  

(23:34) Details of the 8CPA need to be largely in place by Christmas, if it is to be ready by the 1 March 2024 deadline.  

(24:10) The 8CPA is unlikely to be a panacea for all that ails community pharmacies, and proprietors need to make tough decisions to protect the viability of their businesses.  

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify

In this podcast, Carlene McMaugh speaks to Ogundipe about early career pharmacists’ (ECPs) views on the issues impacting the profession and its future. 

Among the topics covered are the need for ECPs’s “perspectives, ideas and opinions” to be taken into consideration when it comes to discussions about the expansion of the profession’s scope of practice (11 min: 51) and the need for the sector to remain “viable and sustainable” (3:12). 

(3:38) Making sure that the value and services pharmacists provide to consumers is being met with meaningful reinvestment and remuneration. 

(4:36) ECPs share the concerns of more experienced peers around the impacts of the government’s 60-day dispensing policy. 

(6:14) Appetite for ownership remains strong among young pharmacists.  

(8:39) Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the community pharmacy sector “there are a lot of exciting things to look forward to” for ECPs, as the profession moves towards working to it full scope of practice.  

(12:44) Peer-to-peer support and mentoring is a key for supporting newly registered pharmacists. 

(14:45) Technology is providing ECPs with opportunities to supplement and augment the way pharmacists deliver health services.  

(17:34) ECPs are interested in how they can upskill and develop into new areas of practice and more clinical roles.   

(18:42) Out of discussions for the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement, “there needs to be a sense of certainty that the work that is done in a community pharmacy or in primary care is going to be supported through remuneration”. 

(22:32) ECPs need to engage in the profession and participate in discussions to ensure that their voices are heard.  

Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify